Category Archives: Rockabilly

Boppin’ By The Bayou-Flip, Flop and Fly. Label: Ace Records. Nowadays, the compilation market is without doubt, one of the most competitive in the music industry. Every week hundreds of compilations are released by labels in America, Europe and Britain. Some are released by major labels, while others are lovingly curated and released by smaller …

Make Mine Mondo! Label: Ace Records. Nowadays, with a record number of albums being released and each and every week, independent and major labels spend a considerable part of their budget promoting their latest releases. However, it wasn’t always that way, and Lew Bedell the owner of Doré Records was reluctant to spend money promoting a …

Sounds Of The Unexpected. Label: Ace Records. Ever since she was teenager growing up in Southend-on-Sea, on the Thames Delta, Vicki Fox loved music and was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable collector of vinyl. It was no surprise that when Vicki Fox moved to London, she would embark upon a career in the music industry. One …

Carl Perkins-Whole Lotta Shakin’, King Of Rock, Greatest Hits and On Top. Label: BGO Records. By the time Carl Perkins signed to Sam Phillips’ Sun Records in 1954, he had already been a professional musician for eight years. His career began in 1946, when Carl Perkins was fourteen, and still living in Tiptonville, Tennessee, where …

Red Hot Boppers-HMV Vinyl Exclusive. Label: Sun. Over the last few years, the resurgence of interest in vinyl has taken many within the music industry by surprise. Some went as far as say that the resurgence of interest in vinyl would be short-lived and was no more than a passing fad. How wrong they were. …

Swamp Pop By The Bayou-Let’s Get Together Tonight. Recently, one of Ace Records’ longest running and most successful compilation series made a welcome return when Swamp Pop By The Bayou-Let’s Get Together Tonight was released. It’s the seventeenth instalment in the By The Bayou series, and the third compilation of swamp pop. Just like the previous …

FEEL LIKE GOING HOME-THE SONGS OF CHARLE RICH. When Sam Phillips first encountered Charlie Rich, he was singing demos for Sun Records, in Memphis. On hearing the demos, Sam Phillips thought Charlie Rich’s music wasn’t commercial. It was also: “too jazzy.” Sam Phillips then picked up a pile of Jerry Lee Lewis records and handed …

BOPPIN’ BY THE BAYOU-DRIVE-INS AND BABY DOLLS. The compilation market is without doubt, one of the most competitive in the music industry. Every week hundreds of compilations are released by labels in America, Europe and Britain. Some are released by major labels, while others are lovingly curated compilations that are released by small independent labels. Many …

THE SUN RECORDS ROCK ’N’ COLLECTION-40 ROCKIN’ GREATS FROM THE SUN VAULTS-LIMITED EDITION VINYL. Back in late 2014, I was talking to someone who was then, the label manager at an independent record label. At the time, sales of vinyl were growing on both sides of the Atlantic, as well in Europe. Many independent labels …

JODY REYNOLDS-THE COMPLETE DEMON AND TITAN MASTERS. Jody Reynolds life was changed forevermore in 1958, when Demon Records released Endless Sleep as a single. This was a song that Jody Reynolds had written in 1956, after hearing Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel. Not long after this, Jody Reynolds performed Endless Sleep for the first time. The …

BOPPIN’ BY THE BAYOU-ROCK ME MAMA! Asked to name America’s musical centres of excellence, and most people will come up with Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Memphis, Nashville, New York and Philadelphia. Each of these cities are responsible for some of the best, and most important music of the past fifty years. To this list I …

LONESOME HIGHWAY-AN ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN SONGS OF THE ROAD. The automobile is one of the most celebrated of American institutions. That’s been the case for nearly 100 years. Right back to the days of the blues, the automobile and the highways they travel down, have been celebrated by musicians. That’s the case on Lonesome Highway-An …

KEB DARGE AND LITTLE EDITH’S LEGENDARY WILD ROCKERS VOLUME 5. Four years ago, in June 2011, Keb Darge and Little Edith released the first instalment in their Legendary Wild Rockers’ compilation series, on BBE Music. This was Keb Darge and Little Edith’s Legendary Wild Rockers. It was so successful, that Keb Darge and Little Edith’s …

BOPPIN’ BY THE BAYOU-MADE IN THE SHADE. For the last hundred years, Louisiana has been a musical hotbed. It’s given the world cajun, creole, Dixieland, swamp blues, swamp pop and zydeco. That’s not all. Many blues, country and jazz artist were born and bred in Louisiana. Despite being such a musical hotbed, Louisiana was for …

KEB DARGE AND LITTLE EDITH’S LEGENDARY WILD ROCKERS 4. A lot has happened to Keb Darge and Little Edith since the release of Keb Darge and Little Edith’s Legendary Wild Rockers 3, in June 2013. The village in the Philippines, where Keb Darge and Little Edith live, was destroyed by a typhoon. Nothing was heard …

THE DEADBEATS-ON TAR BEACH. There aren’t many teenagers who dream of leaving the Florida sunshine to head to London, and form a band. That’s what Suzie May did in 1979. She left her home in the Florida suburbs, and arrived in Camden Town, London. Suzie was halfway towards fulfilling her dream. Her dream was to …

BOPPIN’ BY THE BAYOU-MORE DYNAMITE. Back in May 2013, Ace Records released Bluesin’ By The Bayou, a compilation of “low down, dirty and greasy blues from Louisiana.” With some zydeco thrown in for good measure by compiler Ian Saddler, Bluesin’ By The Bayou was a potent musical cocktail. The music on Bluesin’ By The Bayou …

LOUISIANA SATURDAY NIGHT REVISITED. Often, I rail against the greed and avarice of major record companies. They seem to forget that there’s a recession and employ every type of ninja mind trick to sell what they coldly call “product.” It seems, nothing is sacred. Even true classic albums. Van Morrison’s Moondance, Sly and The Family …

MASAAKI HIRAO AND HIS ALL STARS WAGON-NIPPON ROCK ‘N’ ROLL THE BIRTH OF JAPANESE ROKABIRII 1958-1960. The origins of the modern Japanese music industry can be traced back to the spring of 1958. Rockabilly was at the peak of its popularity. A generation of Japanese teenagers, were looking for something they could become part of. …

KEB DARGE AND LITTLE EDITH’S LEGENDARY WILD ROCKERS 3. It doesn’t seem like a year since I was telling you about the delights of Keb Darge and Little Edith’s latest compilation Keb Darge and Little Edith’s Legendary Wild Rockers 2. However, a year has passed and during the previous twelve months, Keb Darge and Little …